ATU students help with food driveArkansas Tech University (ATU) students are teaming up with the River Valley Food 4 Kids group to make sure school children have food over Christmas break. On Saturday, ATU students and River Valley Food 4 Kids volunteers will sort, load and deliver food for the 583 kids in the backpack program to Russellville school counselors for distribution. With food for two meals per day for 16 days for 583 kids, the volunteers will deliver around 18,656...

News Briefs (Nov. 4, 2014)PTO 5K Walk/Run The Harvest Moon 5K Walk/Run sponsored by the Russellville Junior High School PTO will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at RJHS. For more information, contact Denise Stringer at (479) 264-0193 or denise@promtg.us or Al Harpenau at al.harpenau@russellvilleschools.net. Historical Society meeting The quarterly meeting of the Johnson County Historical Society will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Clarksville City Hall. The speaker wi...

Pope Co. constable trial set for Election DayThe jury trial of a Pope County constable who was arrested in July on a charge of criminal mischief is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Election Day. Kenneth Loveless ran unopposed for re-election as Crow Mountain East constable. However, the outcome of the trial will likely determine whether or not he can keep his post. If Loveless is found guilty of a felony, he will be prohibited from acting as constable. In order to be an elected official, s...

Pizza and limosSeventy-six Pottsville Middle Grade students were treated to a limo ride and pizza party Friday for selling 15 or more boxes of cookie dough during the school’s annual fundraiser. Money raised will go toward the purchase of a playground canopy. The overall top seller was fourth grader Anthony Chenowith who received an iPad. Top sellers for each grade were Hunter Williams for fourth grade, Rilee Underwood for fifth grade and Zander Holland for ...

RAEC receives testing awardThe Russellville Adult Education Center (RAEC) was one of the top 10 sites in Arkansas in number of general education development (GED) tests given during the 2013-14 fiscal year. Alan Nolan, RAEC director, during an advisory committee meeting in October where the award was announced, said he was pleased with award, especially with all the recent changes in GED testing. Going paperless was one major change, Nolan said. As of Jan. 1, 2014, all ...

ATU topping ceremony set for MondayArkansas Tech University will host a topping-out ceremony for its new academic, student support and administrative facility on Monday. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. near the intersection of West O Street and Coliseum Drive, where construction is underway on a 66,900-square-foot building. The public is invited to attend. ATU students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends can leave their mark on the project by signing the beam that will repres...

News Briefs (Nov. 2, 2014)Mistletoe Market this week The seventh annual Mistletoe Market Shop for a Cause is set for Friday and Saturday at the L.V. Williamson Boys and Girls Club at 600 E. 16th St. in Russellville. Proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls Club of the Arkansas River Valley. Gift items and merchandise will include art, beauty products, clothing, fall and holiday items, home décor, baby items, jewelry, toys and other gifts of all kinds. The market will be hel...

ATU topping ceremony set for MondayArkansas Tech University will host a topping-out ceremony for its new academic, student support and administrative facility on Monday. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. near the intersection of West O Street and Coliseum Drive, where construction is underway on a 66,900-square-foot building. The public is invited to attend. ATU students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends can leave their mark on the project by signing the beam that will repres...

Henderson retires from Millard HenryAfter practicing at Millard-Henry Clinic (MHC) for 19 years, one the Arkansas River Valley's top OB-GYNs is ready to leave the delivery room. A retirement reception for Dr. Vickie Henderson will take place from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday at the clinic. After a career of delivering 4,750 babies for Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center, Henderson is retiring for medical reasons of her own. She was recently diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a weakening o...

Prisoner crashes through ceiling, escapesAn inmate purportedly crashed through the ceiling of the Pope County Detention Center and escaped for a short time on Monday. Brad Hill, 35, who was incarcerated on suspicion of forgery and resisting arrest, entered the employee bathroom in the booking area of the jail without permission and locked the door, according to a police report. A corrections officer heard Hill in the bathroom and told him to hurry. While waiting for Hill to emerge, s...

Body found in burned auto at Johnson County park KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Johnson County Sheriff's Office said a body was found in the trunk of a burned vehicle at Cabin Creek Park in Knoxville in western Arkansas. The sheriff's office stated in a news release that Knoxville Fire Department firefighters discovered the body in the trunk of the BMW after putting out the fire about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The release stated the body was sent to the State Crime Lab for an autopsy and identification. The...

Koen Building serves the forested Natural StateNestled near downtown Russellville is a two-story, native sandstone and stained wood building. The governmental office is easily missed, but its history is an integral part of the Arkansas River Valley. Located at 605 W. Main St., its been 75 years since the Henry R. Koen Forest Service Office Building was dedicated. Housing about 50 employees and one forest supervisor, the building is the headquarters of the Ozark-St.Francis National Forests....

Dover student faces assault, battery chargesDOVER — A high-school feud among two female students landed one of the teens in the hospital and the other in jail. Mariyah Renfroe, 18, became angry with another Dover High School (DHS) student who she believed was having sexual contact with her boyfriend, according to a police report. Renfroe allegedly told two of her friends she was going to beat up the other girl. "[Renfroe] asked the two friends to be present in case things got out of han...

Bond hearingsThe following individuals appeared during felony bond hearings Friday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear Dec. 1 in Circuit Court. • Milton Galvez, 31, leaving the scene of an accident with injury — $10,000. Around 7:40 a.m. Tuesday, Galvez crashed his vehicle into another car on the 900 block of State Highway 247 and then fled the area, according...

Students commit to anti-bullying campaignLAMAR — Lamar students wore red to an assembly on Wednesday to honor a girl they had never met — and never will. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade committed to a program called Rachel's Challenge, which is modeled after the first student killed in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Rachel's Challenge is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a safe school environment where learning and teaching are maximized, i...

Creative writing program to celebrate 40 years with readingFour decades ago, Arkansas Tech University faculty members Frances Gwaltney and B.C. Hall had a vision for creating a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. On Nov. 13, faculty and students from the Arkansas Tech Department of English and World Languages will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of that degree with a free public reading and reception. Five faculty authors from the department — Dr. Emily Hoffman, Paul Lake,...

RHS Quiz Bowl team places thirdThe Russellville High School (RHS) Quiz Bowl team competed recently in the Watson Chapel Invitational Tournament at Pine Bluff. The Cyclones ended with a 5-2 record, good enough for a third-place finish. Russellville started off with a loss to Conway by a score of 290-225. The Cyclones rebounded in game two with a 290-40 win over Fountain Lake. The Cyclones next lost a tough game to Episcopal Collegiate that was much closer than the 370-235 sc...